Almost 3 months into the season and I'm quite happy with where City are. Of course I'd rather we'd won every game and were miles clear at the top but with less than 3 months gone I think 4th place is decent enough. We've not only lost away at Leicester, Middlesborough and Cardiff but, and it hurts to say this, been outplayed by them. But on the plus side at least Brucie knows where to tinker in the loan market or in the January transfer window. We're more financially stable than most and looking like play-off contenders. Who knows, after the January window we might even look like automatic promotion contenders. And a final plus, Birmingham aren't as good as the aforementioned 3 clubs so Mr A. Partridge thinks City will win there. Time for some sleep before the graveyard shift on Radio Norfolk.
Leicester Boro and Cardiff are always gonna be tough places to go. At least these games are out of the way. We do need much greater resolve though at away fixtures such as this if we are to grab at least a playoff place and SB knows it.
I think it shows we're good but not better than those teams and we'll need to beat them at the KC or at the very least not lose because they're all quality contenders. Bruce talks straight & I like what he's done so far. If we spend in January then it could make all the difference. We're on target to beat last season's 8th. Will the Allams back Bruce in Jan when they didn't back Barmby?
Good post alan. Staying in the top 6 till Xmas will be brilliant. I would have been happy top 10, but SB's influence has been fantastic. Then its who we bring in and ship out that will define our season.
I said on another thread that the result and performances in these games is what's stopping us from being top 2 contenders and keeping us as play off contenders. However, we have Hobbs returning soon and hopefully we can get rid of these niggling injuries to the likes of Elmo which will make our squad stronger. Add to that we will probably bring a couple of players in in January. As long as we can stay in and amongst the top 6 it gives us the perfect platform to push on in the 2nd half of the season.
Ticking along nicely overall,, imo. Keep on the tails of the top 2 until January and then Move into Overdrive. Its a marathon not a sprint. Fun league though and almost impossible to predict.
According to what I understood the Allams did support NB, and sanctioned bring Billy Sharpe in on loan, but NB & AP decided against it. This was part of the problem why NB and the Allams fell out.
There's no point in a play-off place though until we can start giving the teams around us a game and actually beating one or two of them. We aren't going to get the playoffs and play Barnsley or Bristol City, we'll have to beat a Cardiff or a Middlesbrough and we just can't do that for some reason. I've never understood this. Why is it fun to be in a league where you can beat a good side and then lose to a crap one? Did anyone think at the Peterbrough game when we were 3-1 down "Well at least this league is entertaining!" For me entertaining would be a league where we win every game. The Allams were happy to spend money but only on their own targets (Sharp) and not Barmby's. They've tried to do the same thing with Bruce (Sharp again) and fortunately, when he argued he got them to back down which Barmby didn't.
At the time I would have been happy to have had Sharp on board, I don't advocate for owners to dictate to managers who they play, buy or sell, but it seems that this has highlighted NB inexperience as a manager, not to use this to his advantage, whereas SB seems to have done that.
SB didn't want Sharp either. I've never bought into this idea that anyone relatively young must be **** because they're still only just learning the game.
I think The Allams obviously have a lot more trust in SB than Nick as manager, due to Steve's experience, but they are probably learning from their mistakes also, in terms of how to run a football club
I think you missed my point, it seems obvious that Nick did not handle the Allams very well, for whatever reason, this I think partly down to his inexperience in management. However I still feel that the Allams either didn't get on with Nick or they felt he was to inexperienced to get the club into the EPL, and his dismissal was to a large degree engineered to get him out. SB, if you say he also didn't what Sharp, seems to have handled it in a way whereby the Allams have accepted. Of cause an incoming manager probably will be given a bit more license to sway the thinking of the owners. Moreover SB has had more experience in handling owners than Nick had.
Bruce has got pretty much everything he has asked for, Nick didn't get barely anything he asked for, but I don't think the way they handled it had any bearing on either. They obviously trust Bruce more than Nick, but if they weren't going to ever let Nick do what he wanted with the team, then they shouldn't have appointed him in the first place.
Then they should have just left him as a a caretaker then they wouldn't of had to sack him and there would be a good chance he'd still be employed at the club as coach. Anyway however Bruce seems to be handling the Allams seems to be working.
It's been said a done but.. Barmby believed he didn't need Sharp - if he's full-time boss, you have to support his opinion. Fact is Barmby was probably wrong in declining the offer as we DID NEED A GOALSCORER - 40 goals in the season supports this argument Bruce has alluded to this too recently. If you appoint Barmby as full manager you really have to give him 3-4 seasons to learn the job. Allams didn't have this patience. Quid pro quo - Bruce is yer man cos he's more likely to do it in one season.
They tried to get Bruce to sign him too, but he also declined, the difference is that he was allowed to bring the other players he wanted.
